


Explorations in Rekindled Romance and Self-Discovery

by dearzoemurphy



Series: Studies in Complex Emotions and Modern Relationships [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Britta Perry, Canon Rewrite, Episode: s06e07 Advanced Safety Features, F/F, F/M, Multi, Polyamorous Britta Perry, Pre-Relationship, and britta's reasons for dating him, britta/subway is an exploration of why they don't work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25675072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: Britta would never say it, but she wanted to be swept off her feet. She wanted Prince Charming to come along and take everything that was wrong with her world and make it good. She wanted a healthy distraction and a home in the form of someone else. She wanted to receive as much love as she was used to giving, for once. She wanted to become so wrapped up in someone else's life that they would never even think of letting her go.Britta starts dating Rick when he comes back to Greendale. This goes about as well as anyone could have expected it to.A rewrite of s06e07 Advanced Safety Features, the events of that episode stretched out to happen over the course of about two months.
Relationships: Britta Perry & Elroy Patashnik, Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Britta Perry/Subway (Community), Frankie Dart & Jeff Winger, Frankie Dart/Britta Perry, Jeff Winger/Britta Perry/Frankie Dart
Series: Studies in Complex Emotions and Modern Relationships [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936927
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Explorations in Rekindled Romance and Self-Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> okay just a few quick things before we get to the fic!
> 
> 1) this was beta read by the amazing @kingshitsfucktown on tumblr! I wasn't feeling the most confident about this project since it's the longest I've ever written, but they really helped me patch up the things that needed to be patched up and gave me the boost I needed to actually post this.  
> 2) Deb and George are Britta's well-meaning aunt and uncle and not her parents because I said so and I like to pretend 06x02 never happened!  
> 3) I didn't know how to effectively summarize this in the tags, but this work is part-exploration of Britta's relationship with Rick and her reasons for dating him, part-Britta's realization of feelings for both Jeff & Frankie and their realization of feelings for her, and how those two things connect. this is a 100% self-indulgent AU, but I'm overall really happy with the world I crafted.
> 
> that's all for now! I hope you all enjoy <3

Britta was tired of being alone.

Sure, she wasn’t _alone_ alone, but romantically speaking, she had been alone for quite some time. There had been people that she flirted with and patrons that she hooked up. But nothing long-term or meaningful had come from any of her various encounters.

Britta would never say it, but she wanted to be swept off her feet. She wanted Prince Charming to come along and take everything that was wrong with her world and make it good. She wanted a healthy distraction and a home in the form of someone else. She wanted to receive as much love as she was used to giving, for once. She wanted to become so wrapped up in someone else's life that they would never even think of letting her go.

So when Rick came back, her whole world was shaken. Just a little. Here was someone that she had pinned all of her hope on. Someone who had left her all alone when all she had wanted was for him to stay.

 _“How fucking dare he show his face around here?”_ she’d thought upon first seeing him. However, she quickly resolved to make sure that he would never even think of leaving ever again.

Despite her put-on resistance, it felt so good to have him back. The way his nails dug into her back and the way he moaned out her name felt right. Her hands rooted themselves in his hair as he worshipped every inch of her and Britta felt better than she had in ages. His stubble scratching against her chin, her neck, and her breasts was a sensation that she wanted to experience time and time again.

Rick was normal. Untainted by the weirdness of Greendale and everyone that she had shared her life with for the past five years. The perfect Prince Charming.

They both finished quickly and she rolled off of Rick, staring up at the ceiling of the van.

“God, I missed you, Britta,” he said tenderly, reaching over to draw her close to his side.

“I missed you, too,” she said, looking up to give him a weak smile.

“Don’t you feel it? That we belong together?”

Britta nestled further into his side, brushing aside all of the warning bells going off in her head. “I do.”

\---

She eventually faced the red flags and gave Rick an ultimatum; her or Honda. She wanted a normal relationship. She wanted romantic brunches and a reason to see her aunt and uncle. If Rick could shed the one part of him that wasn’t normal, then everything would work out fine. But, on second thought, maybe they could come to a compromise on the Honda issue. He wasn’t exactly the person she had envisioned being with until today, and maybe it had just felt good being with someone and not him in particular. But having what she wanted with a person that was a little bit wrong for her was better than not having it at all, right?

Britta had hoped to keep his return a secret from the study group until they were able to be an official couple. However, she had underestimated their levels of observation and nosiness. 

“So Subway is back, huh?” Jeff asked before that day’s committee meeting.

“Yeah. But he’s not Subway anymore! He gets to be himself and go by Rick, even though he’s working for Honda,” Britta said proudly.

“Does that mean he can actually date you?” 

Britta looked down at the table. “Well…no. Not yet. He has to check with his manager or something.”

“Classic star-crossed lovers. Kept apart by good old fashioned American capitalism,” Abed mused.

“Thanks for the observation, Abed,” Britta grumbled, burying her head in her hands.

“Well, I hope it goes well with his manager,” Annie said encouragingly.

“Why would you even _want_ to date someone who would willingly sell his soul to a corporation? Doesn’t that go against everything you stand for?” Jeff asked, genuinely confused. The question caught Britta off guard. It wasn’t exactly a point that she had considered yet.

“He’s nice. He loves me. And I love him,” Britta said. It was apparent to everyone around the table that she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

“Uh huh. Sure. As long as you’re happy and he’s treating you well, I guess,” Jeff said. Britta sensed a hint of jealousy in his voice despite his casual tone, and that caught her equally off guard. Was she willfully misinterpreting something? Or was he actually jealous of Rick?

The group was interrupted by Frankie strolling into the room and setting her large binder down on the table, the object landing with a small thud.

“Alright! Good afternoon, are we ready to get started?”

The committee members nodded, Annie taking out her own materials. Britta found herself glancing to the side throughout the meeting, subconsciously trying to catch Jeff gazing at her. She ignored the sad light to his deep blue eyes and the soft smile he gave her, as well as the fluttery feeling in her stomach whenever she dared to meet his gaze. 

\---

“I heard that Honda has a hot new salesperson.”

Britta turned to see Jeff next to her lunch table, sliding into the chair across from her. She narrowed her eyes at him as she picked at her salad.

“So what if they do?”

Her and Rick had been allowed to start officially dating after she joined Honda as a guerilla marketer, Britta deciding to compromise instead of keeping on being alone. She didn’t actually want to sell any Hondas, she just wanted to be with Rick. She’d been thinking about Jeff’s point that she wouldn’t typically want to date someone who ‘sold his soul’ to a corporation as she signed the papers agreeing to the terms and conditions of selling her own. But, in this case, so what if she was giving in to the capitalist machine? It was all in the name of love!

Jeff gave Britta a look that made her feel like he could see right through her. “You barely tolerated Rick being a marketer. What made you decide to become one?” he inquired. 

“Adults in mature relationships have to make sacrifices,” Britta said. She was so far unable to look him in the eye, but knew that she could only stare intently at the three sad spinach leaves left in her bowl for so long.

“And Rick couldn’t be the one to make a sacrifice?” Jeff asked innocently.

Britta looked up to stare at him, letting her simmering anger hang in the air for a moment before answering. “It’s more of a compromise. He said that if I don’t like it, we can talk about both of us quitting.”

“What he's making you compromise are your values.”

“Are you really this upset that I’m finally in an actual, normal relationship?!” Britta yelped. She was loud enough that several students in the immediate area turned towards the pair, causing Jeff’s face to burn with embarrassment.

“No, that’s not it. I just…this doesn’t seem like you. I’m sorry for making assumptions, I just wanted to make sure that this is what you want.” Jeff’s voice was barely above a whisper, each word accentuated in a way that sounded like he was practically spitting it out. 

“It is,” Britta said bitterly.

“Okay, good!” Jeff exclaimed.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, Britta seething at her lack of salad and Jeff at his hard boiled eggs.

 _“What’s his problem? This is what I want, why can’t he accept that?”_ Britta thought, _“But I have to admit, he is onto something. Joining a large corporation doesn’t seem like me. Not even me from yesterday could have predicted that this is where I would be today.”_

“What are the odds that no alumni show up to the alumni dance?” Jeff asked eventually, changing the subject completely.

“Oh, near 100%,” Britta said with a laugh.

Jeff smiled at her in a way that made her feel a light pang in her stomach.

 _“Maybe Rick’s beard makes him look a little too much like Jeff,”_ she thought.

\---

“Ugh, I can’t tell you how nice this is. I don’t even remember when the last time a guy stayed for breakfast was,” Britta said.

She was sitting at her kitchen table, letting Rick serve her avocado toast and pour her coffee. He smiled warmly as he took a seat across from her and started pouring out his own coffee.

“Of course! I couldn’t imagine ever leaving before then,” he said before digging into his toast.

This was precisely what Britta had wanted. Breakfasts, domesticity, and sweet sentiments over even sweeter coffee. Giving into the corporate machine in exchange for a guy that didn’t slip out to go for a morning jog before she woke up was, so far, worth it.

“I’m glad,” she said.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, Britta becoming overly interested in the individual pepper flakes on her toast.

“Have I told you about the new floor mats on the Honda CRV’s? Because they are-”

“You know, we don’t have to talk about work all the time,” Britta said, accentuating her statement with a nervous laugh.

“Britta, selling Hondas isn’t just my work,” Rick corrected her, “It’s my life.”

She did her best not to spit out the swig of coffee she had just taken. “Oh? But…I thought…”

“I mean, we can talk about other things! Like, um, have you seen the latest smash hit blockbuster? Jurassic World?” Rick quickly attempted to divert her attention.

Britta narrowed her eyes at him. “I hate big Hollywood blockbusters,” she said.

“Oh, alright. Maybe don’t say that too loudly in public,” Rick said. He took a long, slow sip from his mug and directed his gaze down to Britta’s mahogany table.

“What, because Honda wouldn’t approve of that opinion?” she asked sarcastically.

“...yes.”

Britta gave a frustrated huff and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “Is everything this regulated?!” she asked, feeling more than a little irritated at this point.

“Britta,” Rick started, reaching across the table and laying his hand down palm up, prompting her to take it, “this is what you signed up for. This is the only way we can be together. And don’t you want us to be together?” 

She slowly leaned forward again and took Rick’s hand, squeezing it a little too tightly. “Yes. I want to be with you.”

“Alright. Then this is what we have to do. Marketing is all I’ve ever known, and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I’m sure that you’ll come to love it as much as I do in time,” he said, leaning across the table in search of a kiss. Britta dodged it and let his lips land on the side of her face.

“I’m sure I will,” she muttered.

\---

“And all these rules are so stupid! I don’t like Chris Pratt! Why do I have to say I like Chris Pratt?” Britta exclaimed.

Frankie nodded, slowly sipping her martini. She had come to The Vatican after Britta’s shift ended, needing to destress from dealing with a rather difficult Dean-llema. Britta needed to destress from the super duper minor issues that she was having with Rick. Granted, Frankie’s stressful situation was also caused by Rick, but neither woman really wanted to bring it up at that moment in time. Plus, Britta had already resolved to talk him about not taking advantage of her friends.

They were more than a few drinks in - and two of the only people in the whole establishment - so it didn’t matter that Britta was practically sprawled out over three bar stools or that Frankie was propping her legs up on the open seat next to her as she delicately sipped from the drink in her hand.

“Those rules are stupid because they were put in place by an insane corporation that hires people to give up their entire personhood. Normally, rules can lead to a much more fruitful and satisfying relationship,” Frankie said.

Britta snickered. “How’d you manage to make _rules_ sound appealing?”

Frankie gave her a playful smile. “I can make anything sound appealing. It’s one of my many superpowers.”

“Okay, try to sell me on…the Teletubbies,” her friend said.

“The Teletubbies?! Why the Teletubbies?” Frankie asked, unable to control her laughter. The alcohol had lowered her inhibitions and Britta decided that she liked seeing this side of her friend.

“I was scared shitless of them as a kid! Prove to me it’s your superpower. Convince me that they’re not little monsters that deserve to be shot directly into the baby-faced sun,” Britta explained.

“Alright, well…they’ve made many important contributions to society,” Frankie said solemnly.

“What fucking contributions?” Britta asked, overcome with her own wave of laughter.

“I don’t know! I haven’t had a TV since I was living in my parents’ house! And I only watched Teletubbies when at the YMCA daycare!” 

“Are you implying that you would still watch Teletubbies if you had a TV?!” Britta asked, almost shaking with laughter at this point.

“Well, who wouldn’t?!” 

The two women laughed even harder, earning scornful stares and annoyed eyerolls from the few other people in the bar.

“Hey, Britta?”

She turned to see her manager on the other side of the bar, giving her a concerned frown.

“What up, homeslice!” she exclaimed, raising one hand up in search of a high five.

Her manager left her hanging and only deepened her frown. “I’m going to have to ask you and your friend to leave. You’re disturbing the other patrons,” she said sternly.

“What, we’re disturbing Sewage Joe, the Golden Girls, and the old guy who hits on me every Thursday night?” Britta said, gesturing to various people and groups around the bar, “We’re clearly the funniest people in here, they should be thanking us for our presence,” she added, speech slurring just slightly. Frankie was trying and failing to keep herself from giggling at Britta’s outburst.

“Get out right now, or you’re fired.”

Britta rolled her eyes dramatically and slammed her glass down on the counter. “Fine, if you’re gonna get all Upper West Side on me. C’mon, Frankie, let’s take our business elsewhere,” she said. She extended one arm to the brunette, who graciously looped one of her own over it and let herself be led out of the establishment.

“Wow, I’ve never been kicked out of a bar before!” Frankie said excitedly once they were safely outside.

“Oh, yeah? Well, now you have!” Britta replied gleefully.

“I’m usually not a pot-stirrer. I couldn’t believe you stood up to your manager like that,” her friend said, somewhat in awe.

“For me, that’s just a normal Tuesday.”

“You know, you’re really something special, Britta,” Frankie said, a healthy dose of admiration in her voice.

Britta’s eyes widened, having been taken aback by that statement. “I am?”

“What?! Of course you are! I haven’t known you for long, but you’re one of the best people that I’ve met here,” Frankie said, pausing before adding, “Don’t tell the others I said that.”

Britta mimed zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. “I won’t say a word.”

“No, but really, you’re clearly the most passionate one on the committee. You have morals and ideals and you stick to them, in spite of occasionally disastrous consequences. It’s…inspiring,” Frankie elaborated. She bent one leg to prop her foot against the brick wall of The Vatican and leaned back onto it, Britta quickly moving to do the same.

“I’m the heart of the group,” Britta said quietly.

“That you are.”

Rick had told her that he loved her, but he’d never said anything like what Frankie just had. Did he really love Britta? Did he even know Britta? Or was he just as lonely as she was, desperate for any connection with anyone? Britta looked over to see Frankie wistfully gazing out over the parking lot, the street lamps casting an orange glow on her face. Maybe Britta had noticed how pretty she was before, but thought that she should have remembered her being _this_ pretty. Moving solely on instinct and against all better judgement, she leaned in, eyes fluttering closed and mouth hanging open. She was interrupted by a sudden jolt and opened her eyes to see that she was millimeters away from Frankie’s face. Close enough to see the golden flecks in her eyes. 

“Britta,” she started calmly, “you have a boyfriend.”

Maybe it was a bad sign that, in spite of that unfortunate fact, Britta wished that Frankie hadn't stopped her.

“Oh, yeah. I guess I do,” was the only response she could muster.

“Let’s get us an Uber home. I think my place is on the way to yours, so we can have one make two stops,” Frankie said.

Britta nodded. The next thing she fully remembered was resting her head on Frankie’s shoulder and tracing circles on the inside of her palm the entire ride to her apartment. Then came the absence of warmth and feeling of loneliness taking her place for the second leg of the journey.

 _“She said that I had a boyfriend,”_ Britta thought, _“Not that she didn’t want to kiss me. Or do other things with me.”_

Once she was safely nestled in her bed and drifting off to sleep, she briefly wondered if she would have been as happy to hear Rick say that she was something special.

\---

“So…I know most of you met Rick as Subway, but he’s Rick now! Rick, this is Jeff, Annie, Elroy, Frankie, Chang, and Abed. We’re the Save Greendale Committee! Committee, this is Rick,” Britta said happily.

Things had been going slightly better with the Honda salesman, so Britta had pushed her recent encounters with both Jeff and Frankie out of her mind. Rick had seriously upped his boyfriend game; buying Britta flowers, giving her back rubs, and learning how to make a vegan pad thai just for her. All of the extra relationship-y perks worked to reassure Britta that she had made the right choice and half-heartedly shilling Hondas for a few hours every week was worth the benefits of being with him.

The group waved and gave the couple weak smiles. Jeff in particular seemed to be trying extra hard to appear civil, in addition to Abed and Frankie each giving Rick a thinly veiled side-eye.

“Nice to see you again, Rick!” Annie said, trying to encourage the rest of the group to engage in conversation.

A chorus of grumbled sentiments rose up, causing him to chuckle nervously.

“Nice to meet you all again. Britta’s told me so much about you, you’re clearly very important to her. If you all love Britta as much as I do, I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” he said, turning to nuzzle his nose against his girlfriend’s.

Annie gave an extremely half-hearted ‘aw’, the others visibly recoiling at the statement and the sight.

“Oh, I know you love me, but what do you always say that you love about me, specifically?” Britta asked in a syrupy sweet voice. She was openly fishing for reassurance and a sentiment similar to the one Frankie had delivered the week before, having made the split second decision to put him on the spot. 

_"Who knows, he might actually say something meaningful if he's under pressure,"_ she thought. 

“Heh. I don’t know, what do I say?” Rick asked, visibly nervous.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you!”

Britta’s unusually sweet tone now worried both her boyfriend and Jeff, who had intimate knowledge of how she tended to use that specific inflection.

“Hey, are you the one who keeps trying to sell the Dean more Hondas?” Frankie cut in. She was playing dumb to call him out, something that filled Britta with a strange amount of admiration for the woman.

“Ah, well…Britta already talked to me about that. I’m not trying to sell him Hondas, I’m just helping to make little improvements in his life," he said quickly. Before anyone else could make any additions, he made a hasty exit by adding; "Now, Britta, I best be off to my meeting. I’ll pick you up at 6." He placed a quick kiss on Britta’s forehead before practically vanishing.

“Seems like that’s going great,” Abed remarked dryly.

“I thought he was nice!” Chang said, looking around the table for someone who would openly agree with him.

“Thanks, Chang,” Britta said as she plopped into her chair at the study room table.

“Well, that certainly was…something. Now, for the dance…” Frankie said, desperate to redirect and kick off the committee meeting. 

It was a rather run-of-the-mill meeting, meaning that Britta could zone out without missing anything too important.

 _“Could he really not think of a single thing that he loved about me?! Or just something he liked about me? Even Chang could probably name something he liked about me! …even if that_ something _is just the fact that I shared a cookie with him once. Maybe all of the new stuff is just for show. Maybe Rick really doesn’t care about me,”_ she thought.

Jeff noticed her zoning out at one point, prompting him to covertly place a hand on her knee and brush his thumb against it gently. Britta snapped out of her daze, turning to look at him.

 _“You okay?”_ he mouthed.

She nodded, trying to figure out a succinct way to summarize her current emotions. _“Yeah. Just upset,”_ she mouthed back.

Jeff nodded, concern lining his face. The meeting carried on for a few more minutes, ending with a hotly contested vote on what color paper plates to order for the dance. Once Frankie delivered the closing remarks, Annie and Abed swiftly collected their things and headed out, excitedly chattering about the box office flop they were planning on watching that night. Elroy moved out of the door as fast as he could, being followed closely by Chang, who was trying to convince the IT guy to join him for drinks at a place that had mudslides and plastic menus.

Britta and Jeff stayed seated where they were, Frankie clearly stalling by slowly packing up her binder. Jeff looked between her and Britta, raising an eyebrow as if to ask permission to speak with the other woman still in the room. Britta nodded, giving him silent permission. Jeff nodded back and took a deep breath.

“Hey. So…”

That was all it took for Britta to burst into tears. Frankie and Jeff exchanged looks of alarm as the woman rushed to sit in Abed’s usual chair.

“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Frankie murmured, wrapping her arms around Britta’s shoulders and rubbing them gently.

Britta did her best to calm herself, but couldn’t stop the flow of tears once it started. “Why can’t he even think of one thing he loves about me?! Am I that unloveable?!”

Her friends exchanged another set of alarmed expressions.

“Oh goodness, of course not! You’re wonderful, Britta,” Frankie said.

“There’s so many things to love about you! I mean, sure, we make fun of you a lot, but it’s because we love all of the weird little things about you,” Jeff added.

“Yeah, but what? Specifically,” Britta snapped.

“You’re so passionate,” he said without missing a beat, “You always want to see the best in people. Even when the world wears you down, you never give up. You never lose hope.”

Frankie gave him a grateful smile before continuing his train of thought. “When you truly care about something, you become such an inspiration. Your light burns so bright. Everyone who gets to witness you at your most passionate is so incredibly lucky.”

“And all of the little things - like the way you say the word ‘bagel’ and get overzealous about psychoanalyzing us - they’re charming. We might make fun of them, but they’re all a part of the wonderful person that is _Britta_ ,” Jeff elaborated. Frankie’s smile broadened for a moment before she directed her attention back to the blonde.

Britta looked up from the table, gaze drifting between her two friends. “Really?”

“Really,” they both said at the same time.

Britta could hardly help the wide grin spreading across her face. “Thanks. I’m sure Rick just hasn’t had the chance to see all of that. He’ll love it, too,” she said.

Jeff nodded slowly. “Uh huh,” he said, earning a stern look from Frankie, “I mean, absolutely! He’ll come to love you just as much as we do,” he amended, placing a hand on one of Britta’s.

“Thanks, Jeff. Come on, guys. Bring it in,” Britta said, reaching one arm over to loop it around Frankie and stretching the other out towards the brunet. Frankie fully embraced the blonde, Jeff leaving his chair to stand next to her and awkwardly crane down to do the same. His head rested on top of Britta’s while Frankie’s nestled into the crook of her neck.

 _“I could really get used to this,”_ Britta thought, squeezing her friends as tightly as she could.

\---

“Sweetheart? You seem distracted,” Rick said. He absentmindedly rubbed the outside of Britta’s shoulder.

They were watching Avatar at Rick’s apartment because it was his favorite movie, and even though Britta thought it was overhyped box office trite, she let him put it on because she loved him. Or something like that.

“Hm? Oh, I’m just a little tired, that’s all,” she fibbed. The truth was, she was putting a little too much thought into the mating rituals of the Na’vi.

_“How could someone really choose just one person to be with for the rest of their lives? Why would they restrict themselves like that? I guess that’s what I’m doing with Rick…but maybe I don’t want to? That’s crazy! I’ve wanted this forever! Unless…”_

“We can turn in early if you want to. Or if you’re just bored of the movie, I’m sure we could find some other activities…” Rick suggested, his gaze drifting over towards his bedroom.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna head home. Big day tomorrow, you know, making alumni dance decorations and all,” Britta said, stretching to free herself from his grasp and standing up.

“Oh! Are you sure everything’s alright?”

“Yup! I’m just…just dandy,” she said, flashing her best and most convincing fake smile.

“Alright then. See you tomorrow for breakfast at Sweetgreen?” Rick asked.

“Sure, yeah, mhm,” Britta said sleepily, “I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh, I can pick you up-”

“No, you’re fine. I can get there on my own. Good night,” she said, leaning down to plant a half-hearted kiss on his forehead.

She didn’t even look back at the couch as she left his apartment.

 _“This is what I want. I want to be with him. I want to watch blockbusters on his couch and get vegan smoothies together in the mornings. I want a normal relationship,”_ Britta repeated in her head all the way home, hoping that she could convince herself that it was the truth.

She was right about one thing: she did want a normal relationship. She wanted to have someone, to not be alone. But maybe that someone wasn’t Rick. Maybe it was someone a little riskier, someone unlike anyone she’d been with before. Or someone she had actually been with before. 

_“Therapizing myself can only take me so far,"_ she thought, sighing out loud, _"I wish I had someone to talk things out with. I can’t go to Frankie, she’d get too suspicious. Plus, that's all...new. And strange. Good strange, but still strange. Going to Elroy would get me...nowhere. Talking to Annie or Abed would be weird since I've never talked to either of them about this kind of thing before. So that leaves…shit.”_

\---

The next morning, Britta found herself standing in the hallway leading to Jeff’s office. The door at the other end was wide open, meaning all that she had to do was get her legs to carry her over and into it. With each step, her legs felt harder and harder to pick back up.

 _“Why am I even doing this?”_ she thought, right before remembering, _“Of all the people I know, he’ll be able to help the most. Even if this mildly concerns him. I don’t have to tell him that, though! And I doubt he’ll figure it out.”_

She knew that she couldn’t navigate this situation on her own. But why did Jeffery fucking Winger have to be the only person who could feasibly be her co-pilot?

Britta finally reached the doorway and timidly knocked one side of it, leaning against the other. “Hey, Jeff? Can I…talk to you?” she asked nervously.

He was reclining on his chair in a way that it definitely wasn’t intended for, his legs dangling over one of the armrests as he sipped from a glass of scotch that he probably wasn’t supposed to have.

“Yeah, I guess? Come on in,” he said, gesturing for her to sit in the chair on the other side of his desk. She nodded and swiftly moved in to take a seat. 

“So, I kind of have this…problem. I was hoping you could help,” Britta said.

“Why not go to Annie or Frankie about it?” he asked.

“Okay, one, sexist. Two...your the person that I think can help the most with this situation. You know me best,” she explained.

“What kind of situation is it?” He set down his glass and leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his desk.

“Okay, well…Rick’s a great boyfriend,” she started.

“Uh oh, I think I already know where this is going,” Jeff said with a wry smile.

Britta fought back an amused smile of her own, attempting to turn it into a frown. “Well…anyway, he’s great. He takes me out to brunch and kisses my nose when we wake up in the morning and…he’s a Honda salesperson that can’t have me in his life unless I am also a Honda salesperson," she explained, pausing, "You were right when you said that it didn’t seem like me." 

“Wait, I’m sorry, can you say that last part again?” Jeff teased, cupping one ear with his hand and leaning in closer to Britta.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I regret saying it in the first place.” 

Jeff laughed, swirling the scotch that remained in his glass. “I regret asking you to repeat it. Please, proceed.”

“Uh huh. Anyway, that last part sucks. But it’s worth it to be with someone,” she said earnestly. Her gaze drifted down to her lap as she momentarily became lost in thought. Could Jeff actually help her with this? Did she _need_ help? Maybe things with Rick weren’t as bad as she had previously thought…then she looked up and saw Jeff’s gentle eyes prompting her to continue and remembered what had driven her to his office.

“But, also…”

Jeff instantly recognized what she was trying to say. He’d been there a few times himself and could practically hear it in her voice. “There’s someone else,” he said in a tone that was huskier than he had probably intended for it to be.

Britta felt something inside her that had long been dormant stir.

“Exactly. And maybe two? Someone else's,” she squeaked, “They both seem to genuinely care about me more than he does. I mean, you remember how he couldn't name even one specific thing that he liked about me!"

Jeff nodded. "I do. That hasn't changed?"

She shook her head sadly. "No. He just keeps showering me in gifts and coffee and affection to make up for it. I think there might be something in the Honda rulebook that doesn't allow for emotional connections," she said with a humorless laugh, the joke ringing a little too true. 

"Yeah. There might be." 

"Plus, he kind of reminds me of one of the other two people,” she added, regretting her addition the moment it came out of her mouth. If Jeff put any critical thought into it at all, he’d know that she was referring to him.

She had expected her statement to throw Jeff for a loop, but if it did, he didn’t show it. 

“That’s completely normal. So first off, you’re not a bad person for having all of these feelings, and all of that. Second off, have you told Rick about these someone else's?” 

“Well, I…no. What I still like about him is that he’s simple! And uncomplicated! And for the first time in a long time, I feel _normal_. I like feeling normal! ...even though covertly selling Hondas to your peers with your boyfriend isn’t that normal,” she said, pausing to consider the implications of what she was saying, “But everything else is completely and totally normal! And telling him about my feelings for these other people would make things complicated. And un-normal. Is there any way that I can just…turn off what I’m feeling for them?”

“Speaking from personal experience? Cut them out of your life completely,” Jeff said.

Britta narrowed her eyes at him. “That would be kind of hard to do.”

Silence hung over the room as both parties realized what Britta had just said.

 _“Shit, I gave myself away for real! Of all the things to Britta, why did I have to Britta this?!”_ she thought, mind racing with potential courses of action.

“You know, maybe that's your sign that you _have_ to talk to him about it, then.”

She looked across the desk to Jeff. He was sitting up straight now, leaning in even closer than before. Close enough that she could make out individual wrinkles on his forehead and the creases of his smile lines.

“But what if he breaks up with me? I’ve liked not being alone.” she said quietly.

“If those other people make you question your relationship with him, would that really be so bad?”

That certainly was a question that Britta hadn’t yet dared to ask herself. She thought it might be because some part of her already knew the answer.

“But he’s safe. He’s normal. I have a normal, healthy relationship with him. I’d be crazy to throw it away for a chance with someone else," she repeated. 

“Britta, he’s a guerilla marketer for Honda. He dragged you into that life along with him. It’s time to accept that no one at Greendale is normal or stable or healthy. If you want something, it might be scarier and more uncertain, but you should go and get it,” Jeff said, offering rare words of encouragement and sincere insight.

“Huh. I hadn’t thought about it like that,” she said simply.

Jeff gave her a wry smile. “Glad I could be of assistance,” he said, lifting up his glass again and taking a swig from it.

Britta smiled back. “Thanks. For listening to me and actually taking me seriously for once,” she said, standing up from the chair and awkwardly making her way towards the door.

“Wait, one more thing.”

“Yes?” She turned around to see Jeff gazing warmly after her.

“I don’t know who the second person is, but I noticed that Rick looked a lot more like me now,” he said.

Britta felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest. So she had blown it. But he didn’t seem upset. In fact, he almost seemed…pleased?

“It’s funny, she doesn’t look anything like him,” she said before quickly turning around and vanishing from the doorway.

\---

“Stop the Honda, Rick! Do you hear me? Use a light press of your foot to engage the highly responsive anti-lock brakes of this incredible vehicle. Now!”

The car came to a slow, rolling stop. Up until that point, the night had made Britta reconsider her position. Sure, she could finally admit that she might have feelings for both Jeff and Frankie. She loved them in a platonic sense. But maybe giving up what she had with Rick for one of them wouldn’t be worth it in the long run. Her and Jeff hadn’t found a way to make things work in almost six years of knowing each other. She’d never properly dated another woman. She'd been right to have reservations about throwing her relationship with Rick away. It was rocky. It wasn't something that Britta thought could last for the rest of their lives. But it was _something_. And he got along with her aunt and uncle so well! She now had every facet of a solid family! It would break her relatives' hearts if she kicked Rick out of their lives. 

But he had crossed the one line Britta had put in place. Rick had made the fatal mistake of trying to sell Deb and George a Honda over family dinner. That was all it took to snap Britta back to reality and wonder why she was bending over backwards for a so-called “normal” relationship with someone who clearly cared more about his job than her. That, and when he insisted that she had to say she liked Avatar.

She threw off her seatbelt and bolted out of the car, spinning around to face him. “I wanted to be with you. The real you!” she spat.

“Britta, this is me! This is what I do! I change people’s lives by influencing them to buy Honda products!” Rick protested.

“Oh, come on! You have to realize how absurd that sounds!”

“No, I don’t! Plus, when I influence people to buy Honda products…I feel God’s pleasure,” he said.

Britta ignored the reference to _Chariots of Fire_ and narrowed her eyes at him. “You seriously can’t be saying that you were put on this Earth to sell Hondas, Rick.”

“So what if I am?”

“Jeff was right! You’re not normal or stable or healthy. No one at Greendale is! And you’re not even their brand of crazy. You’re a million times worse, because you actively hurt people!” Britta burst.

“Wait, wait, wait. Jeff as in your ex-boyfriend, Jeff? Of course he would be telling you those things about me!” Rick said defensively, waving his arms about in frustration.

“No, he told me those things about you because he’s my friend. He cares more about me than you ever could. So does everyone else on the Save Greendale Committee! I…don’t know why I thought this would ever work out,” she trailed off, speaking more softly now, “I don’t know why I thought you were worth sacrificing so much for. You’re no better than any of them.”

“What do you mean, Britta?”

She wiped off a single tear that had been trailing down her cheek and flicked it off into the ground. “Goodbye, Rick. Good luck selling Hondas. But you better find somewhere else to shill your shit. Stay the fuck away from Greendale,” she said sorrowfully.

“Wait, does this mean you quit?” he asked as Britta slammed the passenger door shut and stormed off in the other direction.

 _“Stupid, stupid. I’m so stupid. Why did I even bother with him? Why’d I ever think that he was the best, most normal person I could have gone for? Why did I even like him?!”_ she thought as she sullenly moped down the side of the road, pulling her jacket more tightly around her, _“Jeff and Frankie wouldn’t have treated me like he did. They wouldn’t put their work before me. Then again…Jeff would put almost anything before his work. It’s not a high bar to stumble over.”_

She cracked herself up with the last part, so lost in thought that she barely noticed a car pull up beside her and honk to get her attention.

“Britta! Britta? What are you doing out here?” the driver yelled.

She turned to see Elroy sitting in his car, giving her an exasperated look. 

“Oh my god, Elroy! I’m so happy to see you!” Britta exclaimed, running over to him.

“Do you need a ride?” he asked.

“If it’s no problem. I just dumped my boyfriend and I was kind of riding with him,” she said sheepishly. Elroy only tilted his head towards the passenger’s side, motioning for her to climb in. Britta happily obliged, running around the car and quickly swinging into it.

“You broke up with him mid-car ride? That’s cold,” Elroy remarked. He slowly pulled the car back onto the road and continued driving down it.

“Yeah. He used family dinner to try to sell my aunt and uncle a Honda. I couldn’t support that behavior,” Britta deadpanned.

Elroy nodded, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. A Natalie is Freezing song happened to be on the radio, both passengers nodding along to the soft music.

“Good for you. By the way, your friend, Jeff, booked them for the dance,” he said, gesturing to the radio for a moment.

Britta felt her pulse quicken. Jeff knew that was her favorite band, right? She’d made him listen to them on more than one car ride to their favorite Thai place. Of course, he’d likely booked them in an attempt to win Elroy’s favor. And she shouldn’t be getting that hopeful that soon after her breakup; it hadn’t even been an hour.

“Wait, Greendale’s the other way! Turn the car around, we gotta go!”

“I don’t want to go!” Elroy yelled, getting uncharacteristically passionate.

“Why not? I-”

“I used to date her.”

Britta gasped. “Natalie?!”

“Her name’s Julie. Why would the band’s name be her name? She’s an artist,” Elroy said.

“We listened to them together, you never said anything about this!” Britta prompted, wanting more information.

“Yeah, well…she messed me up pretty good.”

“Oh. Got it. I’m sorry.”

Britta looked down at the floor of the car, trying not to think about how vastly inferior the mats were to the high quality carpet of a typical Honda.

“You know, at least you got your heartbreak over with. Now you can seal yourself off like I did and avoid any future heartache,” Elroy said after a few moments of silence.

“That’s just it! We have to defend our castles, but we can’t seal ourselves off! It’s like…what’s that thing castles have?”

“Walls?” Elroy asked, turning to raise a skeptical eyebrow at his passenger.

“Come on,” Britta scoffed.

“A moat?” he guessed.

“It goes over the moat!” she said, frantically trying to mime what she was talking about. Elroy glanced to the side whenever he could take his eyes off of the road for a second, only becoming more confused.

“Enemy knights? Cavalry? Arrows?” he kept guessing.

“No, come on, stop it. It goes like this,” Britta said, placing her arms at a 90 degree angle and demonstrating an up and down motion.

“Alligators?”

Britta let out a strangled cry, this conversational detour being entirely unimportant to the matter at hand, but quickly becoming a matter of personal pride. “No! It’s one thing, it’s mechanical.”

“One mechanical alligator?” Elroy asked earnestly.

“Are you screwing with me?!” Britta exclaimed.

“I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about!”

“It’s one mechanical thing! It goes over the thing! It goes like this!” Britta yelped, continuing to mime the up and down motion.

Elroy studied her motions for a moment. “A catapult? No, wait! Are you talking about a drawbridge?”

“Yes, that’s it! That’s it!” Britta exclaimed, happily letting out a sigh of relief.

“A drawbridge! Yes!” The pair celebrated for a moment, happy to have come to an understanding.

“See, we have to keep our drawbridges open so that people are able to come in. They just have to work for it, you know?” she explained.

“But do you _actually_ gain anything from people coming in?” 

Britta thought for a moment. Images of the entire study group all together on holidays, around the study room table, and at various Greendale school dances came to mind. However, the images of Frankie bathed in golden light outside the Vatican and Jeff reclined in his office chair, smiling as he watched her walk away lingered for an extra moment.

“Yeah. You gain a lot. Because sometimes, you get hurt. You let the wrong people in and you learn from it. Whenever you let a new wrong kind of person in, you learn something new about yourself and others. And sometimes, you let the right people in, and they’re so worth it that it makes up for everything else.”

Elroy brought the car to a screeching halt. Britta whipped her head to the side and glared at him.

“Dude, what are you doing?!”

“Letting down my drawbridge. We’re going back to Greendale.”

\---

The pair rolled into the school parking lot after about 10 minutes; way less time than it should have taken them to get there. On account of Elroy's frantic and almost reckless driving, Britta was just glad that they made it there in one piece.

They practically ran to the cafeteria together, Britta convincing herself that she was only there to support Elroy finding his rock star ex-girlfriend. Her currently messy feelings weren’t the focus here. Besides, she was going to see her favorite band tonight! That was exciting!

It wasn’t long before they were in the cafeteria and hurrying towards the makeshift backstage area, Elroy searching for the woman not named Natalie. Britta hung back, trying to blend into the background and not freak out about being mere feet away from the members of her favorite band.

“Well, hey there, stranger” a familiar voice came from behind her. Britta turned around to see Jeff, smiling warmly in her direction.

“Hey, yourself."

Jeff joined Britta in leaning against the wall, observing her watching the members of Natalie is Freezing. “Where’s Rick?” he asked.

“We, uh…kind of broke up,” Britta said. She crossed her arms under her chest, fidgeting with her shirt sleeve.

“Oh, really? I know things weren’t going great, but I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. He tried to sell Deb and George a Honda,” she said flippantly.

Jeff nodded, eyeing Britta with a certain amount of suspicion. “Good reason.” A beat of silence passed.

“Um, it’s really cool that you got Natalie is Freezing to come. Even if it was just to get Elroy to like you,” Britta said.

“Yeah, I am pretty cool, aren’t I?” Jeff said with a devilish grin, causing Britta to elbow him in the side. “No, no, for real. I remembered how much you liked them, too. I was about to call and tell you they were here right before you showed up.”

Britta smiled, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and looking up to Jeff. “Oh. Cool. Thanks,” she said. _“Jeff would never force me to say that I liked Avatar,”_ she thought as she turned to wrap her arms around him. He quickly reciprocated, rubbing her back and drawing her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and let herself be comforted. Even though her attachment to Rick has grown small and their relationship had needed to end, break ups were never easy on her.

“Are you gonna be okay, Britts?” Jeff asked softly. 

She nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah. I’m better off without him.” She pulled back and wiped at her eyes. “He really didn’t care about me the way you guys care about me. I deserve better than that.”

“You do,” he said, looking over Britta’s shoulder to see Elroy, “Wait, I have to take care of something real quick.”

She nodded. “Meet you out front?”

Jeff gave a quick nod back, stopping to squeeze her shoulder before continuing towards their friend. Britta was overcome with a certain warmth, smiling at both of her friends as she slipped through the curtain.

\---

Natalie is Freezing was just as amazing as Britta had hoped they would be. An added bonus was watching Frankie play her heart out on the steel drums, Jeff’s comment from earlier that week about Troy's special talent paying off. She looked happier than Britta had ever seen her, which didn’t help curb her tidal wave of complex emotions. Neither did dancing with Jeff, letting him swing her around during the more upbeat songs and pull her close during slower songs. She danced with the rest of her friends as well, but it was undeniable that there was a certain amount of electricity to every touch and look exchanged between her and Jeff. Britta thought that she should have felt guiltier about the whole thing until she remembered that Rick had probably gone right back to his only love - shilling products for multi-million dollar corporations - and from that point on, felt fine about enjoying the night with her friends. 

After the band was done with their set, Britta convinced Elroy to take her backstage to personally introduce her to Julie and the rest of the group. He begrudgingly agreed, Britta exchanging a gleeful smile with Jeff before practically skipping off with their other friend.

She scanned the backstage area once they reached it, not immediately recognizing any of the band members. However, she did recognize a certain dark-haired woman carrying a steel drum behind the curtain. Britta left Elroy’s side to run over to her, tapping her lightly on the shoulder once she’d safely set the drum down.

“Hey,” Britta said.

Frankie turned around and gasped, pulling her into a tight embrace. “Britta! I’m glad you could make it! I thought you had dinner with Rick tonight.”

“I did. We did. And then we broke up,” she explained, looking down in embarrassment when Frankie let her go.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He tried to sell my aunt and uncle a car over dinner. I realized that whatever we had wasn’t worth all of the strings that were attached. And what we had…it seemed better than it was on the surface,” Britta elaborated. 

Frankie gave her a gentle smile, reaching out to rub her shoulder. “I’m proud of you. But I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Thanks. It’s alright, I’m already over it,” Britta said with a laugh. 

“You know, it’s okay if you aren’t. Take your time with these things,” Frankie said. 

Britta felt a wave of affection come over her and smiled warmly at her friend. “I do know. I…I will.”

“If you need anything, I’ll help in any way I can. I’m sure the rest of the group will as well.”

“Of course. Thank you.”

Britta wasn’t sure what to say next, waiting for the other woman to give her more to work with. Frankie only kept warmly gazing at her, so she nodded again and took a deep breath.

“Um, you were really great! Up there, on the drums,” Britta said.

“Thank you! Since you all miss Troy so much, I figured that I could help by learning his specialty,” Frankie replied, beaming.

Britta cracked a smile. _“Dammit, Jeff,”_ she thought, then said, “It did help. You really looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“Hey, Britta?" Elroy called from the other side of the backstage area. Britta turned around in the direction his voice came from.

"Yes?"

"Didn’t you want to meet Julie?” 

“Oh! Yeah! I did. Um, I’ll talk to you later, Frankie. I’m gonna go meet Julie!” Britta squealed.

Frankie laughed, waving goodbye. “Alright, have fun."

\---

Predictably, Britta had freaked out upon being personally introduced to Natalie is Freezing. Regardless, she collected herself enough to ask every member to sign a napkin snatched from the Greendale cafeteria and took a picture with the whole group. In it, she stood in the middle with her arms looped around Julie, tears of happiness practically spilling from her eyes.

Recovering from her messy relationship with Rick hadn't been nearly as anxiety inducing as meeting her favorite band. That was in no small part due to Frankie and Jeff borderline doting over her; Jeff texting her to check in whenever she skipped a committee meeting, Frankie bringing ice cream over to apartment 303 on a few separate occasions, and both of them shutting down anyone who tried to ask her questions about what had happened with the Honda salesman. Their behavior didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the group, particularly not Abed, who not-so-slyly asked Britta how long she thought one should wait after a breakup before entering a new relationship.

Britta had done a lot of thinking in the weeks following her breakup. About why she’d entered the relationship in the first place, about how it ended, and everything in between. Of course she couldn’t make things work with a guy who’s greatest pleasure in life was convincing people to buy things they didn’t need! She had fallen for the idea of him, the idea that he could give her a sense of normalcy that she’d so far lacked in life. But with what she knew about him, she never should have expected that he could give her what she wanted.

So, naturally, Britta ended up thinking about the people with whom she realistically could build a healthy relationship. The people whose kindness had shown her everything wrong with Rick, the people whom she knew loved her unconditionally, the people who never stopped taking care of her. The people who she never would have expected to come in and change her life for the better; one Mr. Jeffery Winger and one Ms. Francesca Dart. 

The next step was deciding what to do with the feelings that Britta had tried and failed to keep locked away. Jeff already knew that she had these certain feelings bubbling below the surface. Frankie might know as well based on their night at The Vatican, but there was a chance she had written Britta’s actions off as a drunken misstep. So did she even need to say anything to them? It wasn’t like she was ready to enter another relationship yet. And how could she possibly choose which of her closest friends to pursue when she was ready?

As an aspiring therapist, Britta knew that she shouldn’t hold onto all of her feelings and continue to stuff them away. She had to talk them out with the people that they concerned. So one Thursday night when Annie and Abed were going to the premiere of _Age of Ultron_ , Britta took advantage of having the apartment to herself and invited Jeff and Frankie over for dinner.

She put both parties into a group chat and texted, _“hey! you guys free tonight?”_

Immediately after sending the message, she panicked and began quickly pacing around apartment 303.

_“Why did I do that? I can’t do this! They’re probably not free anyway. Or only one of them will be free and I’ll have to do this twice. Or call it off. Or have a really awkward dinner. Or-”_

Her worrisome thoughts were interrupted by a chirp from her phone.

 _“I am, what did you have in mind?”_ Jeff texted back.

 _“Me too :D,”_ Frankie sent a few moments after.

Britta smiled at seeing Frankie use an emoticon - she’d taught her how to use several of them a few weeks earlier since Frankie’s phone was too old to support emojis - and gave herself a moment to conjure a response.

 _“dinner at my place? Abed and Annie are out, and I’m making spaghetti,”_ she sent.

 _“Sounds wonderful. What time do you want us?”_ Frankie asked.

_“anytime after 6 is great!”_

_“Anything you want us to bring?”_ Jeff asked.

Britta got up and searched the fridge for a moment to see if they were in need of any essentials. _“alcohol, if you want it. all we have here is some Bud Light,”_ Britta sent.

 _“Great, see you both then! :-)”_ Frankie sent back.

Britta sat on the back of the couch, gazing happily at her phone for a moment before she was hit with the sudden realization that she had an hour to get the apartment in order and dinner made.

_"Oh, shit. Fuck."_

She began a mad scramble of throwing all of Abed’s DVD’s back onto their respective shelves, shoving her personal belongings under her bed, and arranging the numerous throw pillows on their chairs and couches. Once the main room was tidy enough for Britta’s liking, it was time to tackle dinner.

 _“I should have asked them to go out somewhere…why the fuck did I do this to myself?”_ she wondered, sighing and swiftly making her way to the kitchenette.

\---

“Hey, Jeff! Wait!” Frankie called out.

He turned to see her running towards him, waving almost frantically. He stopped and waited for her to catch up before continuing his walk to the front of Britta’s apartment building.

“How’s it going?” Jeff asked.

“Fine. I did want to ask, do you know if Britta had a reason to invite us both over?” she inquired.

He chuckled softly. “I have an inkling,” he said.

“Care to share?” she asked. They’d reached the front door, Jeff pressing the button to buzz up to apartment 303. The brick that had, in the past, often been used to prop open the door to the complex had mysteriously gone missing around the time that Troy headed out on his voyage, so that was no longer an option for letting the rest of the group into apartment 303.

“I’ll keep it a mystery for now.”

Frankie rolled her eyes, leaning against the brick wall behind her. “Alright, Winger. I guess I can manage living in suspense for a little while longer.” She was carrying a small tub of cookies that she’d made earlier that day in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other, and tucked the cookies against her body once she was settled against the wall.

“I think it will be better if you don’t have a clue,” he said, leaning next to her with his side up against the wall.

Frankie flashed a smile that somehow conveyed both annoyance and amusement. “It better be.”

\---

Britta was in the middle of heating up a batch of vegetarian meatballs when she heard the buzzer go off.

“Shit, shit, shit!” she muttered, scrambling to somehow simultaneously turn off the burner and drain the pasta. She’d heated up some pasta sauce in the microwave, hoping that all she would have to do after receiving her guests was throw all of the components together.

After double checking that every burner on the stove was off, she whipped off her apron and flew out of the apartment, making it down all three flights of stairs in record time. This left her mildly out of breath, so she took a moment to collect herself before letting them in.

Once she was sure that she wouldn’t pass out in front of them, she unlocked and opened the door. “Hey, how’s it going?” Britta attempted to stay casual, leaning against the side of the doorframe.

Both Jeff and Frankie were smiling at her somewhat nervously.

“It’s going alright…can we come in?” Jeff asked.

Britta realized that she was blocking the doorway and quickly sprung out of the way. “Oh! Yeah. Sorry.”

Her friends gratefully ducked into the building, Jeff shutting the door behind them. They looked at Britta expectantly for a moment, the blonde staring at them blankly, seemingly unable to move or speak.

“Oh! Right. Let’s go up!” she instructed, beckoning for the pair to follow her.

The walk up was silent, aside from Jeff quipping about the elevator being broken again. Britta laughed a little too hard at his comments, outwardly cringing at herself every time.

 _“C’mon….get it together, Britta! This isn’t weird! You’re a psych student, you know that this will make you feel better and help you work through everything. Please be normal. Please be able to talk,”_ she thought, almost pleading to herself.

The trio reached the apartment and Britta let them in, immediately running to the kitchen area. “Make yourselves at home! Jeff, feel free to put that in the fridge,” she said, gesturing to the four-pack of craft beer he was carrying.

He nodded, following her into the kitchen to do so. “I see you guys finally fixed it,” he observed appreciatively.

Britta smiled broadly. “We did! We used my tips from last week to hire a repairman,” she explained.

“How long was it broken?” Frankie asked. She took a seat on one of the barstools, having set her box of cookies and bottle of wine on the kitchen counter.

“You don’t want to know,” Britta said, gravely serious.

Frankie narrowed her eyes just slightly, but let the topic slide. Britta had started to practically run around; getting down bowls, throwing pasta and sauce together, and dishing it out alongside the meatless meatballs.

“Anything we can do to help?” Jeff asked.

“You know where the glasses are?”

“Yup. I know where everything is. How, I’m still unsure,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Great! Would you mind getting glasses and silverware out?” Britta requested. Jeff nodded, moving to do so. Frankie got up and came around the counter to take the items from him as he got them down, intending to set the table. 

In that moment, all of Britta’s anxiety dissipated. The domesticity she’d experienced with Rick was nothing like this. Making toast and coffee for her and giving back rubs was one thing. That all seemed so performative, now, all with the goal of keeping Britta complacent and attached to him. Setting the table and getting out beverages? Jeff proving that he had an intimate knowledge of apartment 303’s kitchen? This was a whole new level of domestic bliss. It wasn’t to achieve some goal or with any ulterior motive. Jeff and Frankie were doing this because they genuinely loved her and wanted to spend time with her. These thoughts nearly overwhelmed Britta, but she managed to get the spaghetti bowls over to the table in time to see Jeff pouring the wine Frankie had brought for them.

They sat around the round table, equidistant from one another so that each of them could see the other two.

“Looks great, Britta,” Jeff said, his mouth pulled into a warm smile.

“Are you surprised that I didn’t burn anything?” she asked smugly.

“Based on your track record? Absolutely,” he replied.

Frankie glared at Jeff for a moment, but was unable to keep an amused smile from crossing her face. “He’s right about one thing. It does look great,” she said, “Shall we?” she asked, holding up her glass of wine for a toast. Jeff and Britta raised their glasses in turn.

“To Britta, who so graciously opened her apartment to us and didn’t burn anything!” Frankie said. The woman in question rolled her eyes, Jeff laughing good-naturedly.

“To Britta,” he echoed. The trio brought their glasses to the middle of the table to clink them together, bringing them back in to sip from them afterwards. They then dug in, all going with different methods of getting the pasta into their mouths; Frankie going with a basic twirl, Jeff twirling it with his fork into his spoon, and Britta cutting it up, a method that earned light teasing from Jeff.

“What are you, some kind of monster?” he asked upon noticing what she was doing.

“It’s a widely accepted pasta-eating method!” she retorted. She looked to Frankie for support, but the brunettw made a big show of avoiding eye contact and keeping to herself, earning a laugh from both Jeff and Britta.

They ate mostly in silence for a while, only punctuating it with occasional small talk. After a short internal debate, Britta felt that it was time to reveal why she had called them both here.

“Okay, so…this evening has been great so far, and I don’t really want to wreck that? But there’s something I need to talk to you guys about.”

“I’m sure you won’t wreck anything!” Frankie said gently, “What is it?”

Jeff gave Britta a knowing smile, setting down his utensils and picking up his wine glass. Britta smiled back, gaze flitting back and forth between the pair.

“Alright. So, there’s been a lot going on in the past month. In the real world and in my head,” she opened, “Obviously, things with Rick didn’t work out the way I wanted them to. And there’s a lot of reasons why. I had absurd expectations for our relationship because I wanted him to be my Prince Charming. And he wasn’t.”

She paused for a moment, soaking in Frankie and Jeff’s expressions; the woman subtly prompting her to continue and Jeff with a certain softness that didn’t show itself often. This fueled her confidence and allowed her to keep going.

“Being with Rick made me realize that I deserve better. I deserve more than just a ‘normal’ relationship,” Britta started, putting air quotes around the word ‘normal’, “He said that he loved me without taking the time to know me. The whole me, all of the good and all of the…well, the Britta. He just wanted to keep me with him so that he didn’t have to be alone. And honestly, I was doing the same thing that he was.”

“You should know, the Britta is wonderful,” Frankie said gently.

Britta smiled broadly. “Everyone who’s ever been in the study group or the committee or whatever we call it now are the few that have gotten to really, really know me. And the few that I think have genuinely liked me and cared about me. But you two in particular have taken the time to understand me in a way that no one ever has. Even though you’ve only been with us for a few months,” Britta said, gesturing towards Frankie. “I love you both so, so much. You’re the coolest friends I’ve ever had,” she added.

“We won’t tell the others,” Jeff said jokingly.

Britta narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn’t keep up her annoyed facade. “Thank you for your discretion,” she said sarcastically before continuing.

“Ultimately, my point is that both of you are the reason I even realized that Rick wasn’t good for me and that our relationship wasn’t healthy. And…and I’m pretty sure that I have some non-platonic feelings for you. Both,” she practically choked out.

Frankie’s expression became one of visible surprise, Jeff’s coming to rest in an almost smug smile.

“Told you it would be better if you didn’t have a clue,” he said to Frankie. Britta raised an eyebrow in confusion at the remark, but continued on without directly acknowledging it.

“Well…anyway, I don’t want to act on any feelings yet. I want to take some time to be single again and figure out what I really want. I just knew that I should talk to you both about this instead of bottling it up,” Britta concluded.

“I’m so glad you felt comfortable enough to share this with us,” Frankie said. She reached across the table to place a hand on Britta’s, “I believe that I may have some feelings of a non-platonic nature for you as well. I’m not inclined to act on them yet either, but since you were just so open with us, you deserve to know.”

Britta gazed warmly at the other woman, a sort of happiness that she hadn’t felt in a long time bubbling up inside of her. Her attention was only directed away by Jeff taking her other hand and stroking it gently.

“I don’t think I need to even say this, but I do as well. And I’m in the same boat as Frankie on waiting. I’d be happy to wait as long as you want me to,” he said, “Even if you or I decide eventually that we don’t want to pursue anything, that’s more than okay.”

“Same here,” Frankie added.

Britta sat happily between her friends for a moment, holding their hands and trying to capture everything she could about that moment; the lighting, what they were wearing, how each of them looked sitting at her kitchen table. Her capture was interrupted by an unwelcome realization, causing her to cringe and release their hands, burying her head in hers.

“Is everything okay, Britts?” Jeff asked, concern lining both his and Frankie’s faces.

“How am I ever going to choose between you guys!? When I am ready for a relationship, I mean,” she exclaimed.

Frankie's expression faltered. “You know that you could date both of us, right?” she asked.

Britta blinked. “I can do that? I mean, I know that people can date multiple people at the same time…but even though I had feelings for both of you, I never considered that _I_ might date multiple people at the same time,” she mused, coming to a sudden and overwhelming realization.

“I would have thought that someone as progressive as you would have dabbled in polyamory before,” Jeff said, an amused quality to his voice. 

“Oh, and you have?”

Jeff shrugged. “That’s neither here nor there.”

“I mean, if or when we get there, we would all have to talk about what you dating both of us would mean. Setting up boundaries and a solid foundation of communication. And developing a comprehensive set of rules that everyone would be happy with,” Frankie elaborated, giving Britta a wry smile.

Britta recognized her callback to their night at the Vatican and smiled back. “Rules would lead to a more fruitful and satisfying relationship.”

Jeff looked between the two women and shook his head. “How am I attracted to you…” he muttered.

“Oh, shut up. You are, and that’s what matters,” Britta said with a laugh, “and anyway, I’ll keep that in mind. I never really thought about how it would look in practice, but obviously some part of me knew that I would be happy being with both of you,” she added.

“Of course. It’s not a standard thing to consider. But if you think about it and decide that it’s something you want eventually, I’m open to the possibility,” Frankie said.

“So am I,” Jeff said.

A broad smile spread over Britta’s face as she extended her arms, inviting her friends over for a hug. “Bring it in?”

The pair obliged, getting up and moving to embrace Britta the same way that they had in the study room earlier that month; Frankie leaning down to wrap her arms around Britta’s waist and lay her head on. her shoulder, Jeff embracing the both of them and resting his head on top of Britta’s.

 _“Who needs a Prince Charming when I’ve got Jeff and Frankie?”_ she thought, reaching up to pull them in as close as she could.

There was no doubt in her mind that she could _certainly_ get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, please leave a comment with any thoughts/opinions/etc. down below! I'm looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this since it's a kind of out-there concept. I hope you all are doing well and have an amazing rest of your day! <3


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